Open fire n00b questions

zoltari

Thanks for the advice guys, but fitting a stove is not an option in this room: it would look terrible. Plus, I've just fitted the new fire and it cost way too much to just rip it out and stick a stove in there even if I could...

If anyone has any suggestions for increasing the heat output of the fire 'as is' (not replacing it with a stove) then I would be very interested.

The new fire has a vent right in front of it on the floor lets it draw air from outside via a duct under the floor, this stops it dragging air in from other rooms and eliminates the usual breeze you would get under the door and over your feet; It's just the lack of radiated heat that's the problem for me. As you guys say, these fires are great when you're 6 inches from them, but sit back a few feet and you can't feel them at all.

Has anyone got experience with a fire place heat exchanger? It's a load of pipes that sit in the fire and blow air through them so it get hot; bit like a fan heater for your coal fire... It's on AMazon: Fireplace Heat Exchanger called a Heatalator... Is it a death trap or could it genuinely work?

As regards stoves...

As it happens, I do have a couple of other rooms to do, both need open fires, so I will bear a stove in mind for them, in fact thinking about it, how hard is it to get a back boiler fitted? If I could run a hot water system from them it would solve many problems...